Tag Archives: Aria Las Vegas Hotel

All Posts, Fashion, Travel

New Year’s Eve Celebration in Las Vegas

I’ve been to Vegas many times, but never during the New Year’s Eve. To celebrate the New Year’s Eve for 2016, my friend and I went to Vegas! This Vegas trip is unlike most of the trips I’ve had to Vegas. There were no set plans. My friend and I wanted to take it easy and play everything by ear.

Happy New Year!

My friends and I stayed at the Aria Hotel. Aria Hotel is one of my favorite hotels in Las Vegas. (Their Sky Suite is one of my top three choices on the Strip, after Wynn/Encore Tower Suites and Skyloft at MGM Grand.) There are many nice restaurants in the Aria Hotel. I feel like I can eat different cuisines without having to step out of the hotel property. Aria Hotel Lobby Shopping The Vegas Strip was crowded with people around the New Year’s Eve period. Most of the retail stores (such as the ones in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace) were packed every day, especially on New Year’s Eve day. One might wonder why people want to shop during the busiest season after Christmas. The answer is simple, there were sales everywhere. The discounts ranged between 30% to 60%. For example, Salvatore Ferragamo offered a 30% discount, Christian Louboutin offered 40%, and Red Valentino offered 60% discount, etc. It’s hard to say “No” when pretty things are on sale! If you don’t have the actual boutique store in your resident state, you can avoid the tax by asking them to ship to your home. Some retail stores might charge you shipping cost, but most of the time the amount you saved from paying the tax exceeds the shipping charges. Aria Hotel in Las Vegas Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden Bellagio is one of my favorite hotels. Their Conservatory & Botanical Garden attracts a lot of people throughout the year. For the 2015 holiday season, Bellagio displayed a Christmas theme with a huge Christmas tree, polar bears, penguins, and snow globes, etc. I noticed the Conservatory & Botanical Garden was more crowded than usual. It was hard to take a picture of the display without running into someone with a selfie stick! Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden Eating in the Fancy Restaurants One thing I always look forward to is eating at the nice restaurants in the hotels in Vegas. I know that off the Strip there are many special restaurants that have lower prices, but the experience wouldn’t be the same as in the nice hotels. My all-time top ten restaurants on the Strip include Sinatra at Encore Hotel, Prime Steak and Michael Mina at Bellagio, Joel Robuchon at MGM Grand. A new favorite restaurant is also by Michael Mina, called Bardot Brasserie (French Cuisine), inside of the Aria Hotel. I had dinner there in September 2015 and liked it a lot. It’s the only restaurant that offers brunch in the Aria Hotel, but it only serves brunch on the weekends. In Front of Bardot Brasserie Restaurant On New Year’s Eve, my friends and I had dinner at Hakkasan in the MGM Grand Hotel. We had a multiple course dinner with wine paring. It was a great way to end Year 2015. To sum up, spending the New Year’s Eve in Vegas is fun, even if you are not into gambling or partying. There are plenty of things to do!

All Posts, Food, Travel

The Signature Drink at the Bardot Brasserie by Michael Mina

At a recent trip to Las Vegas, I ate at the Bardot Brasserie restaurant by Michael Mina, at the Aria Hotel.  Before dinner, I tried their signature drink called “And God Created Women”, made with Citadelle St. Germain, Angostura bitters and egg white with the wine-based aperitif, Byrrh.

And God Created Women

(“And God Created Women” Cocktail Drink)

Bardot Brasseri Bar
(Bardot Brasserie Bar)

All Posts, Holidays, Travel

2015 Chinese New Year’s in Las Vegas

I went to Las Vegas in February 2015 with three of my Chinese friends during the two weeks of Chinese New Year’s celebration. One my friends and I stayed at the Aria Hotel. The other two girls stayed at a different hotel.

I’ve been to Vegas many times, but not too often during Chinese New Year’s. I noticed that most of the nicer Vegas hotels had Chinese themed decor. But other Las Vegas hotels, like the Excalibur and the Luxor, did not have any Chinese themed decorations.

MGM Grand Lobby
MGM Grand Lobby

This fact reinforced the idea that there’s a somewhat clear distinction between the very best hotels in Las Vegas — those that adapt to different seasons — and those non-elite hotels that more or less remain static all throughout the year.

Aria Lobby
Aria Lobby

For example, at the nice Aria and the Wynn hotels, I saw many red lanterns and Chinese dragon decorations. And at the Bellagio, MGM Grand, and Encore resorts, I saw decorations for the ram animal, because this is the Chinese year of the ram.

Aria Special Check-In
Aria Special Check-In
Ram for Chinese New Year
Ram for Chinese New Year

Also, at the Aria (even though I didn’t get to take a photograph), I noticed that the employee name badges they wore had their name in English plus the Chinese characters for the ram animal.

BellagioConservatory

I have no major conclusion, but if you’re going to Las Vegas, in my opinion, it’s worth it to spend a little bit more to stay at a top end hotel (Wynn, Encore, Bellagio, Venetian, Palazzo, and Aria) and get a lot of extras that can make your visit more special.

Bellagio Conservatory Botanical Gardens
Bellagio Conservatory Botanical Gardens
All Posts, Food, Travel

The Julian Serrano Tapas Restaurant in Las Vegas

One of the reasons why I like going to Las Vegas is the incredible number of great restaurants there. One problem with this is that on any given trip to Vegas, there’s only time to eat at two or three of these amazing restaurants.

This summer I was in Las Vegas and had some great restaurant experiences. One afternoon, I was in the mood for good food, but wasn’t quite hungry enough for a full meal. I decided to go to the Julian Serrano tapas restaurant in the Aria hotel.

Tapas restaurants became very popular about four years ago. Instead of a traditional menu, tapas restaurants typically serve several appetizer-style dishes instead of one large meal. The Julian Serrano is one of the best tapas-style restaurants anywhere.

For my late-lunch / early-dinner meal, I had two different kinds of “albondigas” (meatballs in Spanish). One was more or less normal, but very tasty, and the other (“Bomba”) was non-traditional and quite spicy.

Bombas

I also had “Brava Potatoes”. These are hard to describe; sort of cubed, broiled, and accompanied by a nice tomato-based sauce. I also tried “Pintxo de Chorizos”. This was spicy sausage, along with a flavorful Spanish sauce and pureed potatoes.

Chorizo

I ate at Julian Serrano before going to see the Cirque du Soleil “O” show, a couple of hotels away at the Bellagio. My meal was absolutely a perfect pre-show meal — not too much and not too little.

The next time you’re in Las Vegas, if you’re anywhere near the middle of the Strip in the late afternoon, and you’re hungry, but not too hungry, consider the Julian Serrano tapas restaurant in the Aria hotel.

All Posts, Food, Travel

Pool Cabanas at the Aria Hotel

A few weeks ago I stayed at the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas. It was the middle of summer time and the weather was hot. Very hot — about 95 degrees F. I decided I’d rent a poolside cabana for the day.

Hotel1

A Cabana at the Aria Hotel

I know it sounds kind of snobbish, but when I go to a pool at a Las Vegas hotel, I really don’t enjoy having to compete with other hotel guests for lounge chairs, towels, and good positions (meaning not too sunny or not too shady). Renting a pool cabana eases those minor annoyances.

Hotel2

View of Pool from Cabana

The price of Vegas pool cabanas varies daily, according to supply and demand. My cabana at the Aria was $200 for the day. That’s quite a bit of money, but, for me at least, it was a good value. I checked in at the cabana reception at 10:00 in the morning. My attendant, Sarah, had just graduated from Boise State.

The cabana had a TV, a refrigerator stocked with fruit, vegetables, soda pop, and bottled water, and chips, and licorice on the table — all included in the price of the cabana. I had a wonderful relaxing day at the Aria pool. The next time you visit Las Vegas, you might want to consider renting a poolside cabana.

All Posts, Travel

The Sky Suites at Aria Hotel in Las Vegas

Where did you stay the last time you went to Las Vegas? I go to Vegas quite often and have some favorite hotels. But I also enjoy trying new places. On a recent trip to Las Vegas, I stayed at the Sky Suites at Aria hotel.

Many hotels in Las Vegas has special sections, for example, MGM Grand has Skyloft suites and Wynn has Tower Suites. When I arrived in Las Vegas I had arranged to be picked up by the Sky Suites limo. The driver took me to a private entrance separate from the main Aria entrance. From there the doorman showed me to the private Sky Suites lobby area, where I checked in to the room.

Overall, I’d rate the Aria Sky Suites with eight out of ten. I especially liked the complimentary refreshments throughout the day; it was at least as good as any of the other special suites I stayed in Las Vegas. The hotel design and the décor was modern and sophisticated, but I slightly prefer the Wynn/Encore and Bellagio suites.

From a value point of view, the Aria Sky Suites offers slightly larger rooms and a slightly lower rate compared to my favorite specialty suites, the Wynn/Encore, MGM Skyloft, Bellagio suites, and the Palazzo. The Sky Suites at Aria are really nice, but the Tower Suites at Wynn/Encore are still my favorites. However, the next time you are in Las Vegas consider the Sky Suites at Aria.

Aria Sky Suites - One Bedroom Aria Suite
Aria Sky Suites – One Bedroom Aria Suite
Aria Sky Suites - Bedroom
Aria Sky Suites – Bedroom
Aria Sky Suites Private Lounge
Aria Sky Suites Private Lounge
Aria Sky Suites Complimentary Refreshments
Aria Sky Suites Complimentary Refreshments